


Photograph

by MercuryGray



Category: Mercy Street (TV)
Genre: Gen, Photo Shoots, Photographs, Photography
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:06:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23934271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercuryGray/pseuds/MercuryGray
Summary: The War Office has sent a photographer.
Relationships: Jedediah "Jed" Foster/Mary Phinney
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	Photograph

The arrival of the photographer was met with widespread skepticism verging on open rebellion.

“And what d'you say it does?” Bullen asked, chewing the end of his cigar with apparent concern as he watched the man set up his tripod in the street in front of the hospital, the steward leaning away from the large wooden box as though he half-expected it to explode.

“Captures images on glass plates,” the photographer repeated through gritted teeth. “Now, if you’d all just - stop moving…”

“Mr. Root is from the Medical Department,” Doctor Foster said, quickly interjecting before the violence promised by the man’s glare surfaced in earnest. This wasn’t the first time he’d been asked the question, and, if they were lucky they’d have this picture done by sundown. “He’s making a record of our work here, and it’s very important, so if we could all just…follow instructions…and stay put as we’ve arranged you…”

He could feel the muscles in his neck starting to cramp from the constant need to rein in his temper with the rest of the yokels on his staff, most of whom had never even heard of a camera and were thus full of questions. Who would have known it would be this hard to take a group photograph?

Mary’s hand appeared at his elbow and and gave a little squeeze, trying to be reassuring. “You’ll give yourself an apoplexy, Jed. Calm down. Someone’s bound to move at some point and it can’t be helped, so sit and look scholarly and stop worrying about everyone else.”

The photographer emerged from underneath his cape, shouted for quiet, and then removed the cover on his negative, counting down the seconds until, exposure finished, he slid the cover back in and everyone could move again. Jed had a sudden revelation that he might have accidentally scandalized the Medical department. “Mary, was your hand…”

“Of course you couldn’t see!” Mary said quickly, both hands back on her lap. “And besides, who’d notice such a thing anyway?”

(The print came a month later in a cardboard sleeve. Everyone else marveled over their faces, printed on paper as clearly as in a mirror. It was true that Mary’s hand could not be seen, but all Jed could focus on was the two of them in the front row, tucked together like lovebirds, she leaning into him, almost daring the camera to deny it.)

**Author's Note:**

> Is it really a civil war documentary until we see some Matthew Brady photographs? 
> 
> He's not the photographer here, but he could be, if he'd taken a break from photographing battlefields. By the time World War One rolls around, the Signal Corps is the Army's official photographer and long format panoramic unit photographs (sometimes 18 inches in length) become a popular item to send home.


End file.
